Ask and Tell
by IronAmerica
Summary: And no one was really surprised when Miles and Bass came out.


I promised some friends a Miloe fic. It's post-DADT, and no one's really surprised to see them announce the relationship change.

Un-beta'ed, so quibble away.

- o – o -

Ask and Tell

_One_

Sergeant Ashburn had a special place in hell reserved for him after the scoreboard went up. Miles was perfectly happy ensuring that the sergeant made it there ahead of schedule. He did _not_ enjoy having his private life paraded around in front of the entire barracks.

Miles was quite happy to beat Ashburn the next time hand-to-hand combat drills came around.

_Two_

Bass was going to make Miles take the second spot in line when Ashburn tossed him a box with two cheap plastic engagement rings after an early-morning run. He liked the man, but this was going too far. Bass pocketed the rings and headed for his room to get soap and a towel.

He could always plot the other sergeant's demise with Miles over breakfast.

_Three_

Coming out was surprisingly anticlimactic. No one was really surprised when Bass and Miles announced that they were a couple. Of course, they'd all been expecting it for years. Miles' face turned red as everyone in the mess hall demanded to see the couple's first _official_ kiss.

Almost everyone was surprisingly on-board with the two sergeants being a couple.

Anyone who wasn't was quiet.

_Four_

Sergeant Ashburn suffered a series of nasty falls during combat drills that left him in the hospital with a broken leg and a fractured wrist. He was reported to have said that the injuries were "completely worth it". He was laughing as he was loaded into the ambulance. No one could—or would—prove that Bass and Miles had been behind the broken bones.

In retrospect, Ashburn probably shouldn't have been counting his winnings from the bet about when Sergeants Matheson and Monroe would come out as a couple in front of them.

Not that anyone could prove anything.

_Five_

Ben was surprisingly understanding when Miles called him on Skype. He just smiled, nodded, and asked his younger brother why it had taken a week for the call to come. Miles was silent for a full five minutes before he replied. His only answer was that he was a bit worried about what Ben would think.

So Ben called Charlie in, with her repurposed GI Joes. They were both wearing Marine Corps dress blues, and their hair had been somewhat clumsily recolored with markers. Charlie proudly announced that they were Unca Mi and Unca Fishy.

They were married.

Ben waited until Charlie had toddled back to her room before he cracked up at the look on Miles' face. Miles cut the connection in disgust.

_Six_

Not everyone was as understanding. Rachel, who'd been at some tech conference that wasn't even a blip on Miles' _PopSci_-centered radar, did not take the news gracefully. If he had known any possible way to mute the connection on Skype without cutting it completely, Miles would have done so.

As it was, he had to listen to her entire rant about his sexuality. He'd known his sister-in-law was a bitch, but he'd never thought she'd go this far. Miles was mostly pissed off, though, by the fact that he could see Charlie standing in the background on Rachel's side of the connection, blue eyes wide. Tears were streaming down the little girl's face as she clutched her dolls to her chest.

Miles wondered if it was possible to kill someone over an internet connection.

There was no reason for Charlie to have heard that.

_Seven_

"And I just don't think—"

"Rachel has a conference that week."

_Leave it to Ben to be reasonable and have an answer for everything_, Miles thought with a small smile. _Even Rachel_.

"And what about the kids? Charlie—and Danny. What about them? Won't Rachel take them with her? Or at least Danny?"

"No. No kids for this one," Ben amended.

Miles frowned at that. Ben sounded distinctly worried about that… Whatever. He was probably worried about it. He smiled and tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder.

"So you'll bring them to Parris Island, then? We've got the chapel. And more bets…"

For the second time in as many days, Miles cut the connection in disgust. Why was his life so hilarious all of a sudden?

_Eight_

Even with Rachel out of the picture, there were still more people who took offense to the change in Bass' relationship status on Facebook. Surprisingly, very few of them were on base. (Bass suspected that Ashburn had stopped being a laughing jackass and had exerted his influence to keep incidents to a minimum.) Thankfully, he was still faster than most of them.

He made it back to the base before he realized his nose was broken.

Port Royal was crossed off the list of places to visit for a good while after that.

_Nine_

The wedding went off without a hitch—with the exception of Ashburn's addition of having both grooms get spanked before they could leave the chapel for the reception. The Corps' amusing tradition of giving the non-military member of the couple one good smack with the saber before the newlyweds were allowed to leave had caused some confusion at first, until Ashburn said he'd take care of it.

Miles and Bass made a silent pact to never trust anything Ashburn said again. He was evil.

_Ten_

The dance that Charlie demanded with both of her uncles—including Unca Fishy, who was now _officially_ her uncle—was Ashburn's profile picture for several weeks. Miles would have dealt with him sooner, except he had to personally hunt down and terrorize everyone else on base who'd taken their cue from the other sergeant.

He didn't mind the picture. It was adorable, after all. Miles just didn't want to risk the possibility that Rachel would see it.

Ben was probably still sleeping on the couch anyways.

_Eleven_

When he went on his next deployment, Miles put his wedding band on a chain around his neck and promised Bass he wouldn't lost it—or take it off. Ever. Bass put him in a headlock until he agreed to sign a paper saying that he'd never lose sight of it.

It was for the best, after all.

- o – o -

So, what did you think? Good? Bad? Does this make the break-up even more heartbreaking? Drop a line and let me know.


End file.
